Results matching “recipe” from Jeanette Hada's Wellness and Happiness Blog

As I sit under the warmth of the much appreciated kotatsu (heater table) with my daughter sleeping peacefully in my arms, I can't believe a half year has already passed since living in our home.  For nearly three weeks two months ago, we dealt with uncomfortably cold weather and met with the challenges of staying warm in an older (109 yrs old) home while making an effort to keep the PG&E expenses down.  With all my complaining and grouching, our last two bills came in under $100 dollars!  Even while living in our tiny condo, our electricity bill usually fluctuated around $150.

I've really come to love this house with it's beautifully painted rooms.  Naoki finished the Venetian plaster in the sun room and recently the star room.  He did a wonderful job and they look wonderful and bring a warmer feeling to the house.   

Life has been busy with family and business.  We've been blessed in both areas.  Naoki's mother and sister came for a brief nine day stay. They really enjoyed all the tasty fruit (navel oranges, pummelos, fuji apples, and oro blancos) that are in season from the farmers market in Campbell.  I made a garlicky spinach pasta with fresh Meyer lemons from our yard one night.  It came out very well, though I would have liked it to be spicier...recipe to follow.

In business, I feel very fortunate and again blessed to be working with so many incredible people.  My listing in San Bruno thankfully sold and the seller is buying a lovely place to call home in Sacramento.  Four deals have closed this year so far and with another in escrow, there is much to be appeciative for.  Although the news is always painting a bleak outlook, they are usually behind in reporting how things are looking up.

Back to talking about home...  We have nearly 50 fruit plants/trees in our yard now.  The potatoes are sprouting in the crop circle Naoki made.  The blossoms are radiant on Aislee's white peach / white nectarine tree and on the Georgia Peach tree we adopted from a home in Palo Alto.  I'm looking forward to making fruit pies if the fat squirrels don't get to them first.

The old avocado tree that came with this house bears California Diablo avocados.  They're smoother and creamier than Hass and have a thinner skin.  They take two weeks to ripen once picked from the tree.  Hopefully we'll have more growing as I love avocado sandwiches on toasted bread with Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie brand) and slices of cold cucumber! So good!!  I could go off on a tangent when it comes to avocados...  Actually it looks like I did.

Ok, on to the pasta recipe -

Boil your preferred pasta al dente (slightly undercooked) as you'll be adding it to another pan to mix in with the garlic lemon sauce.

1. In a large sauce pan drizzle a tablespoon of grapeseed oil (olive oil is fine too) and a pat of butter, heat on medium flame.
2. Add crushed garlic, approximately 5 - 7 cloves
3. Sprinkle a teaspoon (or more depending on your heat preference) of red pepper flakes
4. Add a few pinches of salt to meld flavors, more can be added later to adjust
5. Careful not to burn the garlic, give your mixture a few pushes around your pan.
6. Once garlic is crisp, add spinach and pasta.
7. Mix everything well til spinach is cooked, adding a touch more oil or butter as needed.
8. Finally add thinly sliced lemon wedges of one lemon or juice lemon and add it's zest.

 

to eat...

1. An egg salad sandwich on croissant with a dill pickle spear and avocado on the side
2. Tofu from the San Jose Tofu factory (delicious recipes here - http://www.theppk.com/)
3. My mother's spinach, cheese, and mushroom quiche - hot from the oven
4. Apple crisp with a blueberry crumble topping - also hot from the oven, ala mode!
5. Fruit salad made of cantelope, honeydew, watermelon, berries, and red flame grapes

Afterwards, I would like to...

1. Finish my crochet project before summertime
2. Curl up with a good book and hot chocolate (stirred with a cinnamon stick)
3. Surf the 'net for gifts for my friend's son's 100 day ceremony/celebration
4. ...darn, I really want that fruit salad...
5. Pay my bills, organize my tax receipts, and prepare items for donating

I'm either...

1. Dealing with severe insomnia or slept too much today
2. Getting old or well...getting older
3. Pregnant having horrible food cravings and have messed up my sleep schedule or ?
4. Delirious from lack of sleep or spending too much mind numbing time at the computer
5. Finding an excuse to write something on my blog or killing time.

Wouldn't it be lovely to have a 24 hour delivery service that caters to people's late night cravings?  They'd have access to books, movies (though we can practically find everything online these days), healthy midnight snacks or other food items, clothing/shoes/accessories (just in case),  etc.

It would cost a low monthly fee to use different levels of the service...and well, I just wish I could order an egg salad sandwich right now.

just mix all ingredients and bake it at 350 F for 45 minutes.

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I hadn't seen my friend in two years, so this get-together was a very special one.  It was our first time meeting her absolutely charming, talented and interesting husband.  It was a blessing to meet a couple that pair together so well.  Both are musically inclined, share a passion for traveling and fine food, as well as seem to be very in love with each other (after being together for 10 years).


~ pictures to follow at http://jeanette.hada.us

2007 was an interesting year of new and interesting experiences.  There was some sadness with the end of certain projects and relationships, but also lots of happiness with the strengthening of old friendships, and the meeting and making of new friends from many places. I am thankful to have my family and friends in good health, a growing career that allows me to work independently (most of the time), and most of all a peaceful life. 

I wish all of you a very healthy, happy, and prosperous 2008!

On New Year's Day we celebrated 2008 by visiting our good friend who has prepared the traditional Japanese New Years dishes for us for the past couple years.  It was a little challenging as Naoki is vegetarian and I basically eat fish (ok, sometimes I'll have chicken, but it's rare these days).

She made my favorite dessert made from fresh Fuji apples and agar.  It makes for a lovely, gelatin-free, refreshing jello.  Everything was lovely and neatly sorted in a lacquered box.  My favorite is the soup she makes flavored with kelp and filled with savory bits of dark leafy greens, daikon, and mochi (which she first toasted in the oven).  The black beans that she prepared were soft and chewy in texture and slightly sweet.  The chestnut/sweet potato was hearty and a beautiful golden color.  Her anago rolled omelet was absolutely delicious and small rounds of seasoned taro were just a few of the items there.  What a wonderful and special treat to experience every year!  Pictures to follow at http://jeanette.hada.us

Ok, obviously I'm a little obsessed with food and would love to share a few of my favorite foodie sites.  Some of these most people already know, but here they are just in case...

http://www.yelp.com
- This is an excellent site, where people can critique (rant or rave) about their experiences with different places they've visited.

http://www.opensourcefood.com
- By far my favorite recipe site with pictures that will have those late night hunger pangs kick in.

http://www.annamariavolpi.com/foodmovies.html
- Another food lovers list of food-related movies

Ever since returning from Japan a few weeks, I'd been craving the simmered pumpkin that Naoki's mother made many times while we were there. Luckily, I found that Nijiya, our local Japanese food market carries organic Kabocha! The first time I purchased one, I selected the smallest (in case I made any mistakes in cooking it).

> It was simple to cut, scoop out the seeds, and slice into 1 1/2 inch or so pieces.
> To finish, place pieces of the pumpkin into a large pot, fill one third of the way with filtered water, soy sauce, and mirin (Japanese cooking wine).
> Sugar is optional, but I usually leave it out, as this vegetable is sweet enough (to me).
> Heat on high until boiling, then reduce to a simmer until the pumpkin is easy to cut through.
> Add a small drizzle of olive oil towards the end (my mother-in-laws suggestion) and serve hot or cold.

* My dear friend, who has the most amazing cooking skills, recommends adding butter. I have to agree that I love that richness it adds, but can do with out the extra fat, salt and calories.

* This lovely little dish makes a welcome addition to a packed lunch. It is rich in beta carotene, with iron, vitamin C, potassium, and smaller traces of calcium, folic acid, and minute amounts of B vitamins. <= last part pinched from Wikipedia.com

This weird, but interesting looking citron is called a "Buddha's Hand" and was purchased at today's farmers market at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. It's scent is similar to a Meyers lemon, but more intense and slightly sweeter. I brought one home to show Naoki, since he has an interest in photographing strange things (you'll probably see it on his blog later)

Along with my buddha's hand lemon, I picked up one "pain epi" wheat bread (it's shaped like a stalk of wheat) at Acme Bread Company, and two organic oranges to make cranberry/orange relish. While walking back to the office, I broke my bread in half to share with someone on the street and stashed the other half in my bag containing the buddha's hand. The aroma of the fresh baked bread and citrus together created a wonderful smell!

The best part of eating that bread this evening was the light lemon taste it took on from the oils in the citron. It was perfect alone, though I did eat it with a small piece of pepper jack.

Gazpacho is one of my favorite dishes, especially on hot summer days! This is an easy recipe that I modify to my taste using spicy peppers, more garlic and sprouted wheat toast (instead of the stale white bread). Since this is a cold soup, you can add Phyto-Aloe powder to enhance the nutritional value and taste. Enjoy!